MAYOR SPEECH AT ECO-FAIR

I attended the Eco Fair on Saturday, and was pleased to hear the mayor's pledge to the environment.

"The environment is a priority for the city of Ottawa ... probably the highest priority at the city of Ottawa." [applause] " Certainly speaking for me personally, it is."

The mayor mentions how the LRT project is the largest constuction project in the histroy of Ottawa ($725M) and the largest environmental project in the history of the city of Ottawa.

Mayor Chiarelli also spoke about the Trail Road Landfill methane gas conversion project which will produce enough electricity to serve 5000 homes. He also mentioned a pilot project at Trail Road for plasma technology - A technology that uses very high levels of heat to convert garbage into gas, then to electricity.

New inititive that involves leadership:

"In order to continue to advance the city's environmental agenda, I have appointed our city manager, Kent Kirkpatrick, as the Environmental Commissioner for the City of Ottawa. The highest management level at the city, is going to also share the responsability of being the environmental commissioner."

The day before in Kanata, the mayor announced a "New Green Partnership Program" - $1 million in new funding in the 2006 budget:

"We are inviting community groups, community associations, service clubs, environmental groups, schools, to apply for a project that will give them up to $20,000 for their own neighbourhood. These are envionrmental projects, beautication projects, projects that will respect the pride that our citizens have in keeping this a beautiful and green community."

More info at ottawa.ca

The Mayor concluded by recognizing the environmental work of Ann Coffey, of the Environment Advisory Committee.

"I want to say how proud we are at the city, how proud I am as mayor, to have people like Ann Coffey sitting there working in the trenches, committed, and making a difference for the environment. So I want to say thank you very much."

His full speech can be heard here: MP3 (8 Meg download)